Software Development Lifecycle Vocabulary

vocabulary:
  name: Software Development Lifecycle Vocabulary
  description: >-
    Normative vocabulary and taxonomy for software development lifecycle tools,
    platforms, and practices, covering the full spectrum from planning through
    operations with modern DevOps and platform engineering terminology.
  version: '1.0'
  created: '2026-05-02'
  modified: '2026-05-02'

phases:
  - term: Planning
    definition: >-
      The initial lifecycle phase where requirements are gathered, work is
      decomposed into tasks and stories, capacity is estimated, and delivery
      roadmaps are established.
    related:
      - Backlog
      - Sprint Planning
      - Roadmap

  - term: Development
    definition: >-
      The implementation phase where developers write, review, and integrate
      code into shared repositories, following branching strategies and code
      review practices.
    related:
      - Feature Branch
      - Pull Request
      - Code Review

  - term: Build
    definition: >-
      The automated compilation, packaging, and artifact creation phase that
      transforms source code into deployable software units.
    related:
      - Build Pipeline
      - Artifact Registry
      - Dependency Management

  - term: Testing
    definition: >-
      The quality verification phase involving automated unit, integration,
      end-to-end, performance, and security tests that must pass before code
      advances through the pipeline.
    related:
      - Unit Testing
      - Integration Testing
      - Test Coverage

  - term: Security Scanning
    definition: >-
      Automated security analysis embedded in the development lifecycle,
      including SAST, DAST, SCA, and container scanning to detect vulnerabilities
      before code reaches production.
    related:
      - SAST
      - DAST
      - SCA
      - Container Security

  - term: Deployment
    definition: >-
      The process of moving validated software artifacts through staging and
      production environments using automated pipelines with rollback capability.
    related:
      - CI/CD
      - Blue-Green Deployment
      - Canary Release

  - term: Operations
    definition: >-
      The ongoing management and monitoring of deployed software including
      incident response, performance tuning, and maintenance activities.
    related:
      - Observability
      - Incident Response
      - SRE

practices:
  - term: Continuous Integration
    definition: >-
      The practice of frequently merging developer code changes into a shared
      repository and automatically running build and test pipelines to detect
      integration issues early.
    aliases:
      - CI
    related:
      - Build Pipeline
      - Test Automation
      - Version Control

  - term: Continuous Delivery
    definition: >-
      The practice of automating the release process so that software can be
      deployed to production reliably at any time with minimal manual intervention.
    aliases:
      - CD
    related:
      - Deployment Pipeline
      - Release Management
      - Feature Flags

  - term: Infrastructure as Code
    definition: >-
      The practice of managing and provisioning infrastructure through machine-readable
      configuration files rather than manual processes, enabling version-controlled
      and reproducible environments.
    aliases:
      - IaC
    related:
      - Terraform
      - Ansible
      - GitOps

  - term: GitOps
    definition: >-
      An operational framework using Git as the single source of truth for
      declarative infrastructure and application configuration, with automated
      reconciliation between desired and actual state.
    related:
      - Infrastructure as Code
      - Continuous Delivery
      - Kubernetes

  - term: Shift Left
    definition: >-
      The practice of moving security and quality testing earlier in the
      development lifecycle to catch and fix issues when they are least expensive
      to remediate.
    related:
      - DevSecOps
      - SAST
      - Early Testing

  - term: Trunk-Based Development
    definition: >-
      A source control branching model where developers merge small, frequent
      updates to a shared "trunk" or main branch, reducing merge conflicts and
      integration complexity.
    related:
      - Feature Flags
      - Continuous Integration
      - Branch Strategy

tools-and-platforms:
  - term: Version Control System
    definition: >-
      Software that tracks changes to files over time, allowing teams to recall
      specific versions later and collaborate on code without conflicts.
    aliases:
      - VCS
      - Source Control
    examples:
      - Git
      - GitHub
      - GitLab
      - Bitbucket

  - term: Issue Tracker
    definition: >-
      A system for creating, assigning, and tracking software defects, feature
      requests, and work items throughout the development lifecycle.
    examples:
      - Jira
      - Linear
      - GitHub Issues
      - Azure DevOps Boards

  - term: Artifact Registry
    definition: >-
      A repository for storing and managing build artifacts including container
      images, packages, and binaries produced by CI/CD pipelines.
    examples:
      - Docker Hub
      - JFrog Artifactory
      - GitHub Packages
      - AWS ECR

  - term: Internal Developer Portal
    definition: >-
      A centralized web application that provides developers with self-service
      access to tools, documentation, service catalogs, and infrastructure
      templates needed throughout the development lifecycle.
    aliases:
      - IDP
    examples:
      - Backstage
      - Cortex
      - OpsLevel
      - Port

metrics:
  - term: Deployment Frequency
    definition: >-
      A DORA metric measuring how often an organization successfully releases
      software to production, indicating delivery agility.
    related:
      - DORA Metrics
      - Lead Time
      - DevOps Performance

  - term: Lead Time for Changes
    definition: >-
      A DORA metric measuring the time from code commit to code running in
      production, reflecting the efficiency of the delivery pipeline.
    related:
      - DORA Metrics
      - Deployment Frequency

  - term: Change Failure Rate
    definition: >-
      A DORA metric measuring the percentage of deployments that cause a failure
      in production requiring a rollback or hotfix.
    related:
      - DORA Metrics
      - Reliability
      - MTTR

  - term: Mean Time to Recovery
    definition: >-
      A DORA metric measuring how quickly a team can restore service after a
      production incident or failed deployment.
    aliases:
      - MTTR
    related:
      - DORA Metrics
      - Change Failure Rate
      - Incident Response